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324 - Why your VOTE matters for Black Infant and Maternal Health!

November 1, 2023 • 22 mins

You are listening to a special episode of the Sisters in Loss Podcast. As many of my US listeners know next Tuesday, November 7, 2023 is Election Day and Midterm elections, and we have the power to change and shift the paradigm of maternal and infant mortality in America with our vote. In today’s episode I sit down with March of Dimes President Stacey D. Stewart to discuss their Blanket Change Campaign launched on October 10, 2017, and why our vote matters in this election, why the maternal death rate is getting worse as technology advances, and how working together with March of Dimes gives all new moms a better chance to be there for their babies.

Stacey D. Stewart joined March of Dimes as its fifth President on January 1, 2017, and first African American President. In this role, Stewart heads the organization leading the fight for the health of all moms and babies. She is responsible for all aspects of the organization’s strategy, vision and operations. She has moved on from this role but her impact still lives on to saving the lives of Black moms and babies.

The maternal death rate in America has doubled in just twenty five years, and it’s only getting worse. More than 700 moms died due to pregnancy-related causes this year alone, making the United States the most dangerous developed nation to have a newborn baby. Women of color are most at risk of facing life-threatening complications, and black women are three times as likely as white women to die from pregnancy-related causes.